


simply simple

by glamgothtaako



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Baking, Light Angst, M/M, Mostly fluff though, taako has a panic attack somewhere in there so, this reaper is gay and there is NOTHING you can do about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-17 22:12:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11277804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glamgothtaako/pseuds/glamgothtaako
Summary: take me lightly, i'm not the way i ought to be





	simply simple

It took a while for Taako to work up the gumption to cook for anyone that he cared about. He knew the mass poisoning wasn't his fault, now, but the idea still kind of made him want to puke.

It took even longer for Taako to admit to himself that Kravitz was someone he cared about. Call it trust issues. Or, wait- scratch that. He didn't have a problem trusting Kravitz. No, Kravitz was an amazing guy; he was reliable, honest, more caring than anyone Taako had ever cared to know. What Taako didn't trust was his own ability to keep Kravitz around.

Taako was in the habit of pushing people away. Building his walls up high, letting no one in, not stopping to consider that maybe there were good things it was keeping out, too. Of course, until that silly, awkward date at the Chug ‘n’ Squeeze. Kravitz brought out something in Taako that he didn't quite know how to describe- it felt like a comfortable warmth right in the center of his chest. He wanted to trust Kravitz. Maybe there was something about him that just _made_ people want to trust him, maybe that was a part of his whole reaper gig. Regardless, it’d worked stupendously on Taako.

So, after weeks of psyching himself up, Taako invited Kravitz over to his quarters at the Bureau, formally this time. He had nothing but a shitty kitchenette, so he couldn't really make anything too extravagant. He’d settled on cookies. Cookies were hard to fuck up, and even harder to accidentally poison. He’d be using absolutely no magic.

He’d been pacing around aimlessly after getting all the ingredients out, speaking aloud to himself, when he heard the sound of a hole being ripped in his living room. Which, as he hated to admit, he was starting to find comfort in.

“Hey, handsome.” Taako grinned, his voice wobbly as he wiped sweaty palms on his apron. “Dragged anyone to hell recently?”

He made his way over to his boyfriend(?), watching as he chuckled.

“No, not really. Helped a couple people pass on, but that's about it. No one who’s been breaking death’s laws.” His words were pointed. Kravitz lowered his eyelids as Taako rested his forearms on the taller man’s shoulders.

“I don't come by people like you very often.” His voice had softened considerably since the last time he spoke up.

Taako snorted. “Gay.”

He laid a quick peck on Kravitz’ cheek- which, as he was so loathe to notice, required him to get on his tiptoes. He swore to the gods, one of these days he was going to buy a huge pair of heels just to be taller than Kravitz. See how he liked it.

“Let’s get bakin’, boss.”

Kravitz grinned, shrugging off his coat in an entirely unnecessary gesture, and hanging it up by the door. They both knew damn well that Kravitz could will it out of existence, but neither mentioned it.

Speaking of Kravitz’ fuckin’ outfit. He was in a button up and tie, even though Taako had told him this was a casual date. Did the dude even _own_ casual wear? Was his freakass skeleton form what he considered “casual wear”?

Taako had plenty of questions, but asked none. The way the fabric of the shirt was pulled taut over Kravitz’ arms as he removed his coat almost made Taako start salivating. He sure as shit wasn't gonna look that gift horse in the mouth.

He quit his ogling when Kravitz looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He looked horrendously smug, and Taako wanted to kiss the daylights out of him.

But he could do that while the cookies were baking.

Taako sauntered his way over to the kitchen (maybe trying to draw attention to his hips), pulling two bowls from his cupboards and shoving a carton of eggs into Kravitz’ hands.

“You know how to crack an egg, hot stuff?”

Kravitz looked more than a bit sheepish. “Ah.. No, I don't.”

_How cute is that! Mr. Literal Death can't crack a fuckin’ egg!_ Taako couldn't help but laugh, before taking an egg from Kravitz.

“Here, you just tap it on the counter- Actually, grab one and do it along with me.”

Kravitz did as he was told, watching Taako tap his egg on the counter three times. He mashed his first egg into the counter too hard, his skin flushing in embarrassment.

“Well.” Kravitz spoke, sounding wholly unimpressed with himself.

Taako felt uncontrollable laughter bubbling up in his chest and out past his mouth. His eyes squeezed shut and he clutched his stomach, almost keeling over. Kravitz found himself laughing, too. Taako’s laughter was obnoxious and loud, but infectious, even. Kravitz had never heard him laugh so hard- only ever flirtatious giggles and cheeky snorts. He felt like he’d do anything to hear it again.

“Okay, okay. Gentler, big cat.” Taako tapped the second egg once on the counter as a demonstration, before handing it to Kravitz. Kravitz mimicked him, looking lost afterward.

“Then you kinda- jam your thumbs in the cracks and then pull it apart.”

The reaper did as he was told, again, getting the egg into the bowl with only a little shell.

“I.. don't think the shells are supposed to be in there.”

Taako let out that high pitched giggle of his, waving absently. “They're not, but crunchy cookies have potential.”

The rest of the process went by without a hitch (if you considered including a small flour fight “without a hitch”) and Taako even worked up the gall to use a bit of magic. He only cast Levitate, and he used it to bring the sugar closer to him. And to mess with Kravitz’ dreads while he wasn't paying attention.

Taako opened the oven, grabbing one of the trays.

“What if we just ate the dough instead?” Kravitz spoke, dipping a finger in the spare cookie dough and popping it in his mouth.

Taako almost dropped the tray, swiping the bowl away from Kravitz.

“ _Fuck_ no! What if you get fantasy salmonella and _fucking die_?”

“I’m already dead, dear.”

“...What-the-hell-ever. It's unhealthy and we’re not doing it.”

Taako had grown stiff. He felt bile crawling up his throat as he set down the bowl and put the tray in the oven. He felt so fucking stupid, Kravitz was dead, he probably can't even get sick. Even still, the faces of all of the people that he- no, that _Sazed_ had killed burned on the inside of his eyelids.

“I have to use the bathroom.”

Dismissing himself, he walked away, head down toward the bathroom. His teeth were clenched so hard it was giving him a headache. He felt so fucking stupid for freaking out like this over a dumb joke. He’d been on edge all night, and that was all it took to send him careening over.

He raked a hand through his hair, the other moving to cover his mouth. His breathing was too fast, his thoughts were too fast, everything was _too fast_.

Taako felt like he might vomit. All he could think about was Sazed, and his last show, and Kravitz, and _ruining_ this thing he had with Kravitz, and _poisoning_ Kravitz. He covered his face with his hands as he continued to hyperventilate.

And then he heard a knock.

He didn't know how long he'd been in there. Kravitz was timid when he spoke.

“Taako? Are you okay?”

“All good, my dude.” Taako responded, his voice audibly strained as he struggled to breathe in.

“May I come in?”

“That's kind of a rude question, don't you think?” Of course, he couldn't resist giving the dude some unnecessary fucking attitude when he was just trying to help. As if to make up for it, he opened the door.

Kravitz looked him over for a moment. He had scratch marks on his face, fat tears threatening to spill over wide eyes. He was panicking. Kravitz has seen that look before.

“Can I hug you?”

Part of Taako wanted to say _no_. Part of Taako wanted to tell Kravitz to get lost. The other parts, though, wanted him to stay. He felt selfish as he chose the latter.

“Yeah, if you want.”

Kravitz moved forward, wrapping his arms firmly around Taako’s lithe body.

“What happened? Did I do something wrong?”

His words felt like a punch to the gut. While Taako was in here freaking out about some dumb bullshit, Kravitz was worried that it was in any way _his_ fault. He was such a good guy. Taako didn't deserve him.

“No. It was just.. I was just being fuckin’ stupid, I. Hm.” Is now _really_ a good time to tell him? “Could we… go sit down, or something? My couch is kind of comfortable.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Kravitz agreed, following Taako to the couch. They sat, and Taako burrowed himself under Kravitz’ arm. He was cold as all hell, but Taako found comfort in it.

“Alright, so..” Taako cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Did I ever tell you I had a cooking show?”

Kravitz shook his head.

“Well, I did. Sizzle It Up With Taako. Was pretty popular. Ugh. I had this roadie. Sazed was his name.” Just the name made him want to keel over dead.

“He helped out with driving, and setup, and bodyguarding and shit. And he.. Wanted more screen time, right? I told him no. It's kind of a one man gig, y’know. He’s pissed, of course.

“One show, my last show, I was making 30-Garlic Clove chicken.”

“That's a lot of garlic.” Kravitz spoke, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah.” Taako let out a soft laugh. “It kinda cooks in. Tastes delicious if you do it right.” He was nonchalant as he spoke about his cooking prowess, before he remembered what story he was telling.

“40 people died at that show.” Taako began wringing his hands. “I thought it was all my fault, for _years_ , I’d been mixing magic and food, which you're not supposed to do.”

“You thought it was your fault? Indicating.. that it wasn't?”

Taako let out a humorless laugh, nodding. “It was a pain in the ass to figure out for me, too.” Pushing a hand through his hair, he sighed. “But it wasn't. I prepared that fuckin’ chicken _perfectly_. It was Sazed. _He_ killed all those people, let me think _I_ did it, ruined my reputation and my whole fuckin’ life, and I just-”

He took a deep breath. He was starting to panic again. Kravitz seemed to notice, too, as he grabbed one of Taako’s hands and gave it a small squeeze.

“He bailed out on me eventually. Haven't seen him since.” Taako’s head fell back against the couch, as if talking about Sazed sucked all the energy out of him. “So, I, uh.. I’ve been real nervous about cooking for people that I, uh.. Care about.”

Saying it out loud kind of made Taako want to die. He knew he cared for Kravitz, like he’d hardly cared about anyone in the past 6 years, but forcing the words out past his lips was _miserable_. Now it was just out there. What if he was more committed to this than Kravitz was? What if this was just some casual fling to the reaper?

Taako lifted his eyes to gauge Kravitz’ expression. He looked.. almost blank. Perhaps a bit taken aback.

“I.. I care for you, too, Taako.”

What the hell.

“No shit?”

Kravitz chuckled at that, holding up a hand, as if it solidified his honesty. “No shit.”

Taako didn't know what to say. He was thrilled, but he was terrified. What was he supposed to do now? What did all of this even _mean_? He’d never been in a relationship where they were both equally crazy for each other. It was always someone pining over Taako while being frustrated at him for needing to go slow on the emotional stuff, or Taako having a hard time taking everything seriously. Taako was used to being the _difficult one_ in his relationships.

But with Kravitz… He really felt like things were just- falling into place. Maybe he was getting too excited too fast. Whatever.

He wrapped his arms around Kravitz’ neck, leaning in close, but waiting a moment and letting Kravitz feel his breath on his lips. Kravitz grinned, opening his mouth as if he was about to speak, which, of course, was when Taako closed the gap between him and pressed his lips against Kravitz’. Kravitz’ lips were cold, as the rest of him was, but soft as all hell. Taako’d always meant to ask what his skincare routine was, but he was a little busy at the moment.

Remember how he’d mentioned kissing the daylights out of Kravitz? Yeah. That's where he’s at right now.

Or, that's where he _was_ at, until Kravitz pulled away and opened his pretty mouth.

“The cookies are going to burn, dear.”

Ugh. Taako hated it when he was right.

He groaned as he removed himself from Kravitz’ lap (which he hadn't noticed he’d migrated on to), standing and flattening out his skirt.

Right as he stood, the shrill ringing of the timer filled the room. Kravitz laughed as Taako booked it to the kitchenette. He flung open the oven, wrapping his scarf around his hands and pulling the tray out. He should probably invest in oven mitts. Oh, well.

“These smell fuckin’ divine, Krav, get in here.”

**Author's Note:**

> my girlfriend told me to name this fic "yes i do the cooking" but i couldn't bring myself to do it
> 
> also the song the title/summary is based off of is simply simple by mother mother!


End file.
